I found out a few days ago that I was selected for this year’s Brian M. Israel prize, a composition competition held every year by the Society for New Music. It’s a pleasure to be associated with such a great organization. Please check out their website for a listing of wonderful concerts and events happening throughout the year.

Coming up on June 19th is the premiere of “The Glory of It All!,” a small orchestra piece performed by the students at Bloomingdale School of Music. The piece was commissioned by A4TY, a program designed by Katy Luo to foster interaction between composers and school aged kids. In addition to playing the work of an older composer every year, the Bloomingdale students compose pieces for each other to play. I saw the video of last year’s concert, and I can assure you it’s a great time! Go here to read more about the program.

I’ve also been working on piano quartet piece entitled “Valley of Fire,” for the ensemble Redshift. It’s inspired by a recent trip to Nevada, where the Valley of Fire National Park is located. I was stunned by the expansive, desolate beauty of the place. In some ways it actually reminded of Alaska. Not because of any geographical resemblance but because of its pure wildness and uncompromising natural characteristics. Valley of Fire is an extreme place that forces you to acknowledge the wonders of existing on this planet called Earth. I was amazed by the shifting nature of the desert throughout the course of the day - by midday it’s almost unbearable because of the heat and bright, harsh light. At dusk it cools down, the red rocks look like they’re on fire, the air is thin and pure, and there’s a sense of incredible peace and beauty. That’s when I really love it. This piece is intended to reflect my feelings about dusk in the Valley of Fire. It’s very different from anything I’ve ever written - very slow, a little spooky and ultimately (I hope) very beautiful.

Finally, the recording session for Television Landscape was very cool. Since the winds were the last to record, I got to hear some rough mixes of a few of the songs. As I suspected, it’s going to sound amazing. Lawson has done a great job engineering and the performances are all solid. Look for it on New Amsterdam this fall.